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Blood Brother

Photo by Ferenc Pethö

The world lost a great man this week. Alan Blood was my manager and friend, and probably one of the greatest I’ll ever have of each. Alan’s journey with Male Breast Cancer was inspiring to witness. Working with him these past few years I can attest that he truly lived his motto of “Never give up, never surrender.” I sat with him just a few days before he passed at our tech conference where he looked tired and thin but told me what a good job I did on my presentation and that he planned to present next year.

Alan had a unique perspective of accepting God’s will and the path his life was going to take, while still fighting to stay here on this earth with a fortitude unlike any I have ever seen. When we would ask how he did it, how he pushed through such pain and trial he would remind us of his focus on family and relationships. He loved coming to work. You could see it in his eyes being productive was therapeutic. He loved our work at FamilySearch fiercely. I have no doubt he’ll still be designing, leading and turning hearts on the other side. He was always supportive of me and my family, genuinely interested in people and their journey in this life. Our long commutes to our south office were especially tiring for him but a chance for him to share with coworkers and strangers on the train the importance of focusing on what’s most important in this life. Maybe he didn’t need the length of a full life to figure it all out? In his updates to our team, he would chronical his health situation, bumps in his road, mornings or days he needed to take off, but always conclude with the positive and how he’d be back at it tomorrow and his gratitude for the chance to do it.